Collection Development for Art History in the Boston College Libraries

Format decisions follow the General Collection Development Policy by default, but allow for considerations of requester preference, curricular needs, and other factors.

• Journals are selected in electronic format when possible.
• Monographs, catalogues raisonnes, exhibition and auction catalogues are mostly purchased in print format, as often this is the only available format.  Reference materials are acquired in electronic format when possible.  In the future preference will be given to publications in electronic format.
• The library has online subscription to all important scholarly art databases and image collections.

Primary language of the collection is English, or translations into English.  There is a substantive collection of materials in French and German, followed by Spanish, Italian, Dutch, and other languages.  Important publications in foreign languages are added to the collection if they are not available in translation.

Emphasis is on currently published materials.  Retrospective acquisition is carried out to support new course offerings and research.